A Naugatuck man and the Southport Congregational Church in Fairfield are hoping to help improve the difficult lives of 80 Mexican orphans, many of them disabled.
The Casa Hogar orphanage, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, next month will receive a new school bus filled with toothbrushes, soap, shampoo, diapers, toys, books, wheelchairs and kitchen equipment.
Bryan Nurnberger, 25, of Naugatuck will be at the wheel. He visited the orphanage last year and was appalled at the sparse conditions. So he contacted area churches for help.
The orphanage receives no money from the Mexican government, said Laura Whitmore, wife of the Rev. Paul Whitmore, pastor of the Southport Congregational Church.
It cares for orphans who are blind, deaf and who suffer from cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and polio. In many cases, their parents dropped them off at Casa Hogar because they could not care for them, she said.
“Developmentally, they’re just so far behind,” Laura Whitmore said. “I don’t think their future is bright for adoption.”
The bus and supplies were purchased with contributions from Southport Congregational Church, Monroe Congregational Church, Naugatuck Congregational Church, and First Church of Bethlehem.
“Southport did the majority of the fundraising,” Nurnberger said. “Southport raised $19,000 out of $30,000.”
Also raising money were Maple Hill Elementary School in Naugatuck, Long River Middle School in Prospect, and Naugatuck High School, he said.
Nurnberger is leaving for Casa Hogar July 6. He estimated the 2,900-mile journey would take about two weeks. He plans to share the driving with at least one other person.
He first visited the orphanage by chance while on vacation in Mexico last summer. He stayed two months.
He found orphans who had to wear the same diapers for a week because Casa Hogar had no money to buy diapers, and he was asked to kill chickens because there was no food.
The orphans’ school bus routinely broke down, Nurnberger said. After leaving Casa Hogar, Nurnberger decided to found Simply Smiles, a nonprofit group dedicated to helping Casa Hogar. He also created a website – www.simplysmiles.org.
“It’s just something really compelling about these kids that don’t have the governmental support,” Rev. Whitmore said. “It’s hard to turn your back on children who are in such dire straits.”
The goal of Simply Smiles is to raise the standard of living at Casa Hogar to an acceptable level, Nurnberger said.
Laura Whitmore said Southport Congregational Church will have a long-term relationship with Casa Hogar.
“The job’s not done until they are a self-supporting organization that operates under the standards we find acceptable,” she said.
Nurnberger plans to bring a digital camera to Oaxaca and to record the images and a diary on the Simply Smiles’ Web site, so people who donated to the Casa Hogar effort can follow his journey.
Laura Whitmore said she believed Nurnberger changed after visiting Casa Hogar.
“I don’t mean he changed in terms of who he was, but his life went in a totally different course,” she said. “He came back just so unbelievably excited, dedicated and focused on what he wanted.”
“Bryan’s really been kind of an angel placed on their doorstep,” she added.
Casa Hogar’s new school bus was blessed on Sunday outside Southport Congregational Church.
